"I didn't think she was a kangaroo!"

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this film despite the lengthiness of it. I found Harold Russell (sailor Homer Parrish) and Myrna Loy (Al’s wife, Milly Stephenson) particularly compelling to watch. Why?

Because they are both very strong characters who were enjoyable to watch. Milly is a 'strong woman' and she does not even need to go through a phase being 'strengthened' by a series of bad events. She carries on exactly as she has been doing when Al was away and whilst she welcomes him back to their life together she does not back down from being open minded and from guiding her daughter.

She quietly lets her husband re adjust to their world and she openly expresses her own frustrations (at his dependancy on alcohol) but without letting go her faith in their marriage. She's strong in that she leaves her lover behind and moves on, entirely focussed on her life with Al.

Moreover, her character and the relationship between her and Al were entirely believable. They disagree over how many drinks he should have and there are awkward moments such as when she takes him breakfast in the morning (she indicates for him to sit down on the bed and he doesn't so she ends up just leaving it on the bed) …. but they work hard to be honest with each other and treat each other with respect. A moment which encapsulates this is when she replies to her daughter:

[after Peggy (her daughter) tells her parents that they never had any trouble in their relationship]

Milly: "We never had any trouble." How many times have I told you I hated you and believed it in my heart? How many times have you said you were sick and tired of me; that we were all washed up? How many times have we had to fall in love all over again?

Homer was not always necessarily strong (he refuses to accept help often) but his performance was nevertheless fascinating to watch because he characterized a mental battle which can either make or break you when dealing with coming home from war. Not only is his character dealing with that but he's unsure how to deal with the emotional effects of no longer having his hands. Away from home such sights (his metal claws) were much more common and accepted he could carry out his tasks with great efficiency but when faced with hugging his sweetheart on his return he's unprepared. He embodies this well by possessing a lively humour with his lines but also effectively performing the mix of frustration, pride and the desire to let Wilma, his girl, to not be held back even though he still loves her.

I found that The Best Years of Our Lives reached beyond its era – it gave me an insight into that period of time which I didn't expect and I enjoyed it's humorous script and simplicity in events.

How The Other Half Live

When I first saw the adverts for this new series I saw the money of Secret Millionaire and the concept of Wife Swap with a new twist. Which it is ...but not quite.

Families living in poverty show us their situation and then they are sponsored by wealthy families who feel that 'charity comes from the home' or that their children need to see the real world. Which comes across as dangerous ground for pretentious and embarrassing scenarios when either the rich family end up just throwing money at the poor or having a family in poverty not being gracious or thankful. In fact I have that feeling of dread a lot when watching these types of documentaries (Supernanny, The World's Strictest Parents….)

So I was pleasantly surprised when I watched Episode 3 in the new series and saw how the poverty that Annie and Zofia were living in was not self inflicted. Zofia's company had gone bust and the debts had accumulated, made worse when she lost her cleaning job because she had taken her 8 year old into work for an hour before school…

By the end of the programme I felt I had taken away a sense of more perspective about how giving money to others, in such a way, need not be pretentious and condensing but instead empowering. I thought Julia (the sponsor) might have ended offering Zofia a job at her firm which would have been embarrassing but instead she and her husband invested in Zofia's business.

I was really interested because the 'poor' family weren't complaining or asking for money which made the show feel more authentic and clean whereas on similar shows it sometimes feels dramatised to the point of embarrassing themselves, for example, on Supernanny some parents go the extra mile in being awful in front of the cameras.

In general I'm watching documentaries a great deal more because they are letting me know about our society in fresh formats which come across as fun to watch although, lots of them seem to like having a huge 'feel-good' factor for the viewer, which is interesting that we need to feel gratified by seeing a 'happily ever after'.